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Foundations of Indian Civilization
1500 BCE-300 CE
Indian Topography
•Peninsular India and the Ganges Valley =
subtropical climate and plentiful rainfall
•Staple crop: rice
•The Indus Valley = dry
•Agriculture there relies on irrigation
•Staple crops are wheat, millet, and barley
• Therefore, the geographical diversity has made it
very difficult for any political power to unify all of
India for any great length of time
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Ancient India
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Ancient India
After the demise of the Indus Valley civilization,
Indo-European warriors migrated into India.
They were organized in patriarchal families and
kinship groups, and at first they herded cattle in
the northwest. After 1000 b.c.e., some of them
began to push into the Ganges Valley, using new
iron tools to fell trees and cultivate the land. The
oral tradition of these light-skinned Arya tribes
tells of a violent struggle between themselves
and the darker-skinned Dravidian-speaking
Dasas, whom they evidently pushed into
southern India.
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VARNA (Jati or Caste)
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VEDIC RELIGION
•Reincarnation (reborn in another body)
•Karma– one’s station in life depends on one’s
actions in this and the previous life (can be re-born
into better ‘station’
•Justification of ‘jati’ or classes or ‘castes’
•Emphasized worship of male deities through
sacrifice
•Brahmin were priests who memorized rituals,
prayers, etc.
•Not much known about women during this period6
CHALLENGE TO VEDIC: JAINISM
Founded by Mahavira (540–468 b.c.e.)
Practiced nonviolence; went to extremes in attempts not
to kill any living thing
-Most extreme: naked and self-starvation (to point of
death)
-Less extreme: devotion to commerce and banking:
• occupations that, unlike agriculture, does not
involve killing
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Challenge to
Vedic #2:
Buddhism
Fasting Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama = Buddha
= “Enlightened One”
The original form of Buddhism centered on the individual’s
attempts to gain enlightenment through moderate living, selfdiscipline, and meditation. Their goal was to achieve
nirvana—release from the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.
According to Buddhist teaching, all things are composite,
including the individual. This stands in contrast to the Vedic
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belief in the existence of an eternal soul (atman).
The Spread of Buddhism
-Spread throughout India in Ashoka's time and beyond
-Different forms of Buddhism found in Asia today
-The Mahayana Buddhism of Japan came via Central Asia,
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China and Korea,• with
a secondary
later route through
map
Tibet
-New beliefs after Buddha’s death
-The Theravada Buddhism of Southeast Asia came directly
from India and indirectly through Sri Lanka
-Original teachings
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved. 9
Spread of Buddhism
-Spread throughout India in Ashoka's time and beyond
-Different forms of Buddhism found in Asia today
-The Mahayana Buddhism of Japan came via Central Asia,
China and Korea, with a secondary later route through
Tibet
-New beliefs after Buddha’s death
-The Theravada Buddhism of Southeast Asia came directly
from India and indirectly through Sri Lanka
-Original teachings
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RISE OF HINDUISM
1. Influence of Jainism and Buddhism led to a reform of the old
Vedic religion. Hinduism was a result:
• Intense personal religious devotion, fertility rituals,
symbolism of the southern Dravidian cultures, and
elements of Buddhism
• Sacrifice became less important, personal devotion to the
gods increased
2. Two new major Hindu deities:
• Vishnu, the preserver,
• Shiva, the destroyer.
• Also prominent in the new religious tradition was the
goddess Devi
3. Worship centered on temples and shrines
• puja (service to a deity) and pilgrimage
• The Ganges River = pilgrimage site
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Mauryan Empire
-Core of the Mauryan Empire was the kingdom of Magadha = strategic
location and plentiful agricultural and iron resource
-Founded by Chandragupta, who expanded it along with his successors
Bindusara and Ashoka until it included almost the entire subcontinent
-The Mauryan government made its capital at the walled and moated city of
Pataliputra. \
-large army
- 25 percent tax on the agricultural products of the empire
state monopolies on mines, shipbuilding, and armaments
-The most famous Mauryan emperor is Ashoka (r. 273–232 b.c.e.). Ashoka,
shaken by the carnage in a brutal war of expansion in the south,
converted to Buddhism. His Buddhist policies of government are
preserved in edicts that were inscribed on rocks and pillars at various
points throughout his empire
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Mauryan Empire
-Core of the Mauryan Empire was the kingdom of Magadha = strategic
location and plentiful agricultural and iron resource
-Founded by Chandragupta, who expanded it along with his successors
Bindusara and Ashoka until it included almost the entire subcontinent
-The Mauryan government made its capital at the walled and moated city of
Pataliputra.
large army
- 25 percent tax on the agricultural products of the empire
- State monopolies on mines, shipbuilding, and armaments
-Famous Mauryan emperor is Ashoka (r. 273–232 b.c.e.). Ashoka, shaken
by the carnage in a brutal war of expansion in the south, converted to
Buddhism
-Buddhist policies of government are preserved in edicts that were
inscribed on rocks and pillars at various points throughout his
empire
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Ashoka's Column
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Commerce and Culture
Mauryan empire collapse – 184 bce but trade throughout
the region continued:
-Guilds of artisans and merchants played a dominant role
-Time of political fragmentation in northern Indian after
collapse of Mauryan empire
•Satavahana dynasty in the north
•Religious authority and urbanization in center
•Tamil Kingdoms in the south (Tamil known for artistic
achievements)
-Culture: Epic of Mahabharata : Includes the famous
Bhagavad-Gita, which addresses the contradiction
between duty to society and duty to one’s own soul
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GUPTA EMPIRE
•Gupta Empire began with the kingdom of Magadha
•Rulers of the Gupta Empire brought northern and
central India under control
•Like the Mauryan rulers, the Guptas controlled iron
deposits, established state monopolies, and collected a
25 percent agricultural tax.
•Lack of strong military force
•Meant there was a theater-state, redistributing profits
and luxury goods from trade and dazzling its
dependents with elaborate ceremonies in return for gifts
and other favor
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ARABIC? NUMERALS
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GUPTA AND HINDUISM
•Gupta period: women lost right to own property;
status significantly down-graded
•Even treated like Shudra
•Married very, very young
•Sati
•Hinduism was prominent in the Gupta period
•Built classic form of Hindu temples
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Asian Trade and Communication Routes
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Copyright (c) Houghton Mifflin Company. All Rights Reserved.
SOUTHEAST ASIA
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SRIVIJAYAN KINGDOM
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